Koschke optimistic in Lady ThunderWolves’ season

Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s golf head coach Josh Koschke is optimistic in the current composition of the Lady ThunderWolves that would be bannered by three-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Golfer of the Year and Saipan par-buster Leina Kim.

Leina Kim, third left back, enjoys a light moment with her Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s golf teammates after practice at the Pueblo Country Club last Monday. (CSU-PUEBLO)

But the Lady ThunderWolves, the 2011-2012 champions and runner-up to Metropolitan State University of Denver last season, would still wait if Kim would get clearance to finish her final year of eligibility with the team.

The reigning RMAC individual conference champion Kim, who won five of the nine tournaments last season and finished in the Top 10 of the other four, would either play her final year or be one of Koschke’s assistants.

“We have a really good group of girls in here. It feels really good. It is a new group. They are young, very hungry, and very golf knowledgeable. They kind of know the history of the girls program,” said Koschke in an interview on the CSU-Pueblo golf website.

“We’ve won a couple of conference championships the last few years and we’ve kind of become dominant in the RMAC so they know that they have the bull’s eye on their backs,” he added.

Juniors Natasha Navarro, who was also part of last year’s team, and Jacquelyn Porman, rookies Courtney Ewing, Tori Goodman, and Malaysian Jolene Kam are the other members of the team.

“That’s the reason why they chose to come here. They wanted to carry on the winning tradition. But with not so much pressure.”

Koschke, who supervised the team’s practice round at the Pueblo Country Club last Monday, said all six would probably get the chance to play

“This week of practice is different for the girls and we’re just spending time here at Pueblo Country Club, which will also host the tournament next week. They are just getting familiar with the speed of the greens,” he said.

“Getting the speed of the greens is crucial for the girls, because the greens here are the toughest.”

Koschke said that despite practicing and playing a lot of golf that as much as possible they try to keep the players well rested.

“The girls can get easily burnt out quickly so we try to give them a nice break but also push them at the same time.”

“We also get the freshmen acclimate themselves and know where their classes are in school after being away from their homes. So it is a very busy week,” he ended.

The Lady ThunderWolves open their RMAC season with the RMAC #1 Tournament at Fox Hill Golf Club in Longmont, Colorado on Sept. 14 and 15. They will then travel to the Cold Water Golf Club in Phoenix, Arizona for the Mustang Intercollegiate on Sept. 21 and 22.

They will end September with the Preview tournament at the CommonGround Golf Course, which will host the 2016 NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championship, on Sept. 28 and 29.

RMAC’s fall schedule ends with the RMAC #2 Tournament at the New Mexico Golf Course in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Oct. 12 and 13. The NCAA Division II finals is set on April 17 to 19 next year at Scottsdale, Arizona.